


Ashes to Ashes

by Pearl_Unplanned



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt Steve, Hurt Tony, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Phoenix!Tony, Temporary Character Death, inspired by Polarspaz, worried steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 08:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7427617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Unplanned/pseuds/Pearl_Unplanned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve knew that Tony had never died before. But when he <i>does</i>...</p>
<p>It was, again, inspired by Polarspaz’s <a href="http://polarspaz.tumblr.com/post/143193502201/so-after-a-promise-day-like-battle-edward-uses">art</a>, though just somewhat. Instead of Roy/Ed, it’s Steve/Tony, and there is no dragon!Steve, only phoenix!Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ashes to Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> I might need to start a series called "Inspired by Polarspaz"...

 

            Steve knew that Tony had never died before.

            He didn't know _much_ about Tony's history, but he did know that he'd never died. His parents, when they weren't able to conceive a child, sought out some sort of way to be able to have the heir they were looking for. And thus Tony was born, from a deal Howard made with a mythical being. The beings were integrating other mythical beings with humanity to one day unite the two. With DNA from both Howard and Maria, along with the leftover ashes of several strong Phoenixes of ancient, Tony was born.

            They'd tried sheltering him, keeping him from shifting when he found out that he could turn into his fiery bird counterpart. Tony later on despised his father for keeping that part of his life away from him. He _had_ learned how to shift, and how to fly, and while he'd heard about Phoenixes being reborn, but... Steve was glad that nothing had ever happened that would cause Tony to have to be 'reborn.'

            Groaning, the super-soldier pushed himself into a sitting position before bringing a hand up to his head, feeling for the wound that he knew was there. Blood was already pouring down his face, and several of his ribs felt broken. Long scratches and burns littered his body.

            Knowing about Tony's near-mythological origins just let the team know of the existence of other seemingly mythical beings. And knowledge was power. The world hadn't expected the creatures to try and take the world from the humans. No one had expected these creatures to try and take over, to force humans to be nothing more than animals to them.

            Steve couldn't have been happier when Tony stayed by their side and fought with the team, even though he had a foot in both worlds.

            "Steve!" Tony shouted as he landed beside the injured man.

            "I'm fine," Steve said quickly, not wanting his boyfriend to worry. Tony got reckless when he got worried, and they didn't need reckless right now. "How's the suit?"

            He'd taken a pretty big hit earlier that had knocked him out of the sky, and Steve noticed that the suit hadn't been holding out too well lately.

            "I might have to get rid of it," Tony said. Steve could see the determination in his eyes. He knew that look.

            Steve had only seen Tony's Phoenix form three times, twice in battle and once in the bedroom. After the first time Tony had shifted, during battle, the team had questioned Tony relentlessly about it, super-excited to see Tony's 'other form'. A few days later, Tony shifted to show Steve, and later his team. The super-soldier knew his boyfriend had been worried about what those closest to him might think, and it took a while for Steve to insist that he didn't think any differently about Tony for it.

            They were fighting off a small horde of dragons that had tried attacking the city. They were sent to stop them, and while no one wanted to _hurt_ the dragons, seeing that they were still trying to make peace with the creatures, they did have to stop the destruction. The team was barely able to handle them at the moment.

            "Don't do anything stupid," Steve murmured, grabbing Tony's hand before he was able to fly off. " _Please_ , Tony."

            "I won't," Tony promised, giving him that signature smile before rocketing back into the sky to blast at a dragon that was attacking Clint.

            Sighing, Steve pulled himself onto his feet, using his shield to steady himself for a second before he headed back off into the fray. These dragons were really intent on getting rid of humans. Gritting his teeth, the blond threw his shield at one of the dragons. Luckily, they weren't as indestructible as Steve had first believed, so the team was able to weaken the creatures.

            The dragon rushed at him angrily, and he was barely able to raise his shield after catching it before he was thrown into the side of a building. While they _were_ , technically, chasing the dragons out—there had been more, only a few were still left—the team was really starting to struggle. He knew that he had lots of wounds, and he was a super-soldier. Steve had told Clint and Natasha to keep as far from the dragons as they were able to while still trying to chase them out, and so far his team also had broken bones and burns, too.

            Sharp pain shot up through him as he collapsed down onto the ground. No matter what, though, they were going to keep the city safe. He just had to get back to his feet again.

            A loud screech caught his attention. Steve shouldn't have been surprised to see a large bird made of golden feathers to be rushing down towards him, but he still felt a little bit of surprise every time he saw Tony as a Phoenix. It never seemed real until he saw the great bird.

            Fire-red talons slashed through the dragon's scales as he pulled the overgrown lizard off of Steve. Throwing the hissing creature away to lick its wounds, Tony glided down to Steve, covering his boyfriend's body in shimmering feathers, nuzzling his downy-soft head against Steve.

            "Thank you," Steve said, stroking the feathers of the Phoenix's cheek before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

            "Stay down," Tony commanded. His voice always sounded the same, no matter what form he was in. And those eyes, those beautiful sapphire eyes of his, those were always there, always watching him. Blue eyes, so bright against the gold, so beautiful. Steve could feel his head spinning, and he knew that he should listen to his lover.

            "Stay safe," he murmured, too dizzy to do more than brush his fingers against the Phoenix's wing before Tony took off towards the dragons, who all seemed to notice the appearance of another mythical being.

            "Traitor," one of them shouted, claws extended as he flew directly at Tony. The agile bird was able to dodge and rake his talons along the dragon's side before flying off to defend another one of his teammates. As a Phoenix he was easily able to carry both Clint and Natasha off to safety. Steve wished that Bruce was in New York at the time, but he wasn't, so they had to make do without the Hulk or Thor.

            Steve knew that Tony had never died before. He'd never seen the magnificent bird catch on fire, either, though. While he wasn't sure if that was normal or not, he wasn't able to do more than watch as Tony fought off the dragons. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time, watching his Phoenix, covered in flames, get rid of the remaining dragons.

            Every time the dragon shot fire at Tony, and he chose to go right through the flames, Steve held his breath, praying that his lover would make it.

            It wasn't until the dragons were finally gone when Steve sensed that something was wrong just by the way Tony flew down towards him, still covered in flames, sapphire eyes wide and scared. It was an instinct more than anything, raising the shield up to catch the burning Phoenix, who was looking much smaller than normal as he landed on the shield. It was only seconds before the flames flickered out, and Steve was left with nothing more than an upside down shield full of ashes and embers.

            "Tony," Steve whispered, tears streaming down his face.

            Now, they'd talked about this. They'd talked about the possibility, especially against a difficult enemy, of it being too much and causing what Tony called a 'burnout' where he, upon calming, would disappear into a mass of ashes and be reborn. He'd never mentioned that he'd actually _catch on fire_ or anything, but he did mention something that scared his boyfriend.

            Tony said that, if it was ever to happen, there was a chance that he'd forget... well, everything. Because it wasn't part of the cycle, because it wasn't a natural rebirth, the Tony that he knew and loved might be gone forever, just because he wasn't strong enough to help his lover fight the dragons until the end. It wasn't the broken ribs that made his chest hurt anymore. No, it was his heart that ached now.

            He collapsed slowly onto the ground, knuckles white as he gripped the shield. He couldn't lose these ashes, not if it meant that he might be able to get Tony back.

            "Steve?" Clint asked, walking up behind him. Natasha was at his side. He could see how worried the pair looked as they settled down on either side of him.

            "Aren't phoenixes supposed to rise from the ashes?" Natasha asked quietly after a few moments of silence. Her eyes stayed firmly locked on the small still-glowing embers.

            "Eventually," Steve mumbled, feeling numb. Tony hadn't told him how long it would take, since it hadn't ever happened before. He'd just heard about burnout when he was younger, from his parents. If he lived...

            No, not if. Tony was definitely going to survive this, Steve _knew_ so. He wouldn't allow anything different.

            "Come on," Clint said after they sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the embers. A couple of them burned out, which made Steve just bite his lip and try to force the tears back. "Let's get back to the tower. There's nothing we can do for him here..."

            Clint sounded just as numb as Steve felt, though he did follow after his teammates as the three walked home. Steve didn't trust the van not to accidently spill the ashes if they hit a pothole on the way back. He didn't trust _anyone_ or _anything_ with the ashes. In fact, he could barely trust _himself_ with them.

            When they got back to the tower, Steve set the shield down onto the table before he took a seat. Clint and Natasha once more took up residence on either side of him, holding him as he wept, promising him that everything was going to be okay. He explained everything that Tony had told him a couple months ago, back when they first started dating, about burnout and rebirth and everything that might be useful.

            "Then he'll be back," Natasha said, and she actually managed to calm him down some.

            "Just you wait—before you know it, too. It can't take _that_ long, can it?" Clint asked, patting his shoulder while he cast a glance back at the shield full of ashes. There weren't any embers left.

 

            Steve fell asleep at the table. In the morning, he cried upon discovering a small, shimmering, golden egg among the ashes.

 

            It didn't hatch. Not the next day, or the next day, or the next.

 

            A loud cracking noise woke Steve up. He hadn't realized that he'd fallen asleep, but seeing that he'd barely slept in the past several days, it wasn't that surprising to find himself waking up. An instant panic rushed through him—did something happen to the egg? Was there any danger around? Steve was out of his chair, scanning the room for danger, when he heard another cracking noise.

            All concentration was now in the golden egg, which had two cracks in it.

            "Tony," Steve whispered, wishing that he could help. He knew that he wouldn't, though—he'd heard what happened when an egg was broken for a chick, or a chrysalis was opened for a butterfly. It did the poor creature no favors, and tended to either make them weak, or it proved to be fatal.

            Another crack and the egg split in half. Inside the broken shell was a tiny chick that was covered in fluffy golden downy feathers. Large, sapphire eyes looked up at him, and Steve knew that there were tears running down his face by now. He'd been scared that the egg would never hatch.

            The tiny Phoenix chick ruffled his feathers and stretched out his tiny, flightless wings before yawning.

            "Hey there," Steve whispered, unsure if the tiny Phoenix recognized him or not.

            "Why are you crying?" the tiny bird chirped. "Steve, I haven't been gone for that long, have I?"

            "Tony," Steve cried, gathering the tiny chick up in his arms. "I thought... it's been _days_ , I thought you might've forgotten me."

            "Calm down big guy," Tony chuckled, chirping happily as Steve stroked his soft feathers. "I was always going to come back, I promise. You won't have to lose me."

            Steve couldn't stop the tears, but Tony didn't seem to mind. He spent several minutes just holding Tony and stroking his feathers and telling him how much he'd missed him, how much he loved him, how worried he was.

            "You're so tiny," Steve sniffled, kissing the little chick.

            "And I'll be like this for a few months, too," Tony muttered, yawning. He looked exhausted. Steve couldn't imagine what it must be like for a chick to break free from its shell.

            "Good," Steve murmured, gathering the little bird up in his arms again. He was about the size of a rabbit at the moment. "That means you won't be going out into battle for a while. Nope, I'll just get to take care of you until you're back to normal."

            Tony didn't argue as Steve took him to find the team and inform them on the good news. The tiny Phoenix perched up on his shoulder, looking happy as he pressed himself against Steve.

            "Thanks for not giving up on me," Tony whispered.

            "Always," Steve promised. "I'll never give up on you, as long as I live."


End file.
